An Awakening
by Metalfan616
Summary: The struggles of one man to come to terms with his rediscovered humanity and the people that help him. Elvis/Audrey eventually
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing, I'm a poor student not a multi million dollar film company, so don't sue, I've got nothing but debt. None of the characters are mine, I was merely inspired by them.

A/N This story is set before the film and centres on Elvis' reawakening as a human being with Audrey and the other human resistance members. I've stuck mostly to the way the film depicted the scene where he's thrown from the car and into the water but I have adjusted some things for my own purposes. The film was rated 18 in the UK which I feel gives me pretty much free reign with the rating on this, but it most likely won't get above a T rating. Anyone who thinks the rating is off just drop me a message and I may adjust it. I've started writing this without having read any Daybreakers fan fiction, so any similarity with other stories out there (and I'm assuming there may well be some) is purely coincidental. The updating on this will be sporadic probably so don't hold your breath for chapters any time too soon. I will do my best to update quickly though so long as the inspiration doesn't dry up. Constructive criticism is very much welcomed. This is not beta read so apologies for any errors, I have done my best to pick them up with multiple proof reads.

The burning didn't stop the moment his body hit the water. Oh sure, the flames did, but the burning . . .

It felt like the fire was coursing right through his veins, setting them alight, boiling the blood that had sat there cold and unmoving for near nine years. Eventually it was like the fire struck his heart and a pain like nothing he'd ever felt ripped through him even as his body began to bob back toward the surface and broke through the water. Under the water his pained scream had been muted but it welled up, gurgled, gasped as the water was driven violently from his lungs. But then he began to feel it.

Under the pain that coursed through his body he could feel the frantic pounding in his chest. It was out of rhythm, sporadic, jumping, twitching like it didn't know the pattern to which it was meant to stick. For a few seconds he wondered if this was it, if this was what happened before he would burst into flames, exploding from the force of the sun. But then it began to calm. Slowly but surely, he felt his heart begin to return to its natural rhythm.

He just managed to pull himself up onto the solid concrete platform that his flailing hands struck against and collapsed onto his back in a pool of water, gasping in air.

He felt both fear and elation driving up through him like lava and then before he could even begin to get a grip on what was happening, the shock and pain from bursting through the windshield, the burning, the half drowning and his abstinence from human blood all took its toll and the world went black.

Audrey enjoyed the opportunity to get out of the safe house during daylight hours. Mostly her work was done at night, patrolling for other humans who might have been flushed out of hiding by the vampire soldiers as they hunted. But today she was searching for tracks down by the river that would not likely have been visible at night. There had been a rumour in the air for three days now that a small band of humans was travelling down river away from the city and any opportunity to pick up knew recruits was worth taking. Numbers - and by default morale - had taken a hit recently with four good men captured on their last search and rescue mission.

She was taking a risk moving alone, she knew, but they couldn't spare the manpower at the moment to send out more. And anyway, she reasoned, the chances of coming across a vampire team this far out from the city and during midday was highly unlikely. All the same, she made a point of keeping her guard up and moving within cover as much as possible.

So far, nothing to suggest the presence of humans recently had jumped out at her. But she'd only been walking for an hour and wasn't anywhere near ready to give up hope yet.

As she strode through the short, sun parched grass, Audrey shielded her eyes from the midday sun, smiling at its reassuring presence. As she glanced up towards the sky, something farther up ahead caught her attention.

She edged closer, crouching a little and moving slower through the grass. It brushed silently against her jeans as she continued forward, narrowing her vision as the object became gradually clearer. The air shimmered from the heat of the day around it and obscured its shape somewhat, but with a little further cautious movement, eventually she was able to make out the vehicle.

The car was a wreck. The front of it was entirely crumpled against the solid wooden frame of the fencing that separated her from the river. It was also, she noted, clearly owned by a vampire. The windscreen was shattered mostly, but the windows were still intact and entirely blacked out. As she looked closer, Audrey spotted the cameras mounted on the bodywork meaning it was one of the recently modified cars for daytime driving.

Audrey became more cautious now and gripped the crossbow at her side tight between slightly damp palms. She crouched lower to the ground and surveyed the landscape around her. It appeared void of life, even the grass dead and parched, but she wasn't going to make any sudden movements.

Feeling slightly more confident she raised the crossbow and stood, scanning the car and circling around it to try and see if anyone was left inside.

The car was clearly empty and, she reasoned, any vampire in there would be nothing more than ash now that the sun was blazing straight in through the gaping hole in the windshield.

Gradually, crossbow still up, she turned and stared around her. It was unusual for a vampire to be driving all the way out here. Perhaps they'd been on the trail of this group of humans too. Though this certainly didn't look like an official car, military or otherwise.

Audrey lowered the crossbow eventually and approached the hood of the car where the metal was crunched up tight from the impact with the fence post. The wood had bent backwards and was splintered but had mostly stood firm despite the speed the car must have been travelling at.

She glanced up from the hood of the car, following the direction it was pointing in and her eyes found a tunnel across the river, its solid concrete walls creating a forbidding darkness within that a vampire could have comfortably hidden in. And then she spotted something else.

Audrey climbed quickly over the fence with an agility born from years of evading enemies and slid rapidly down the bank towards the water. She kept her crossbow raised with every forward movement however and stalled at the water's edge as something in her mind screamed at her to halt. What if this was a vampire?

But no, she realised with a jolt of elation, it couldn't be. The man's arm - and from here she could tell that the body was indeed that of a man - was stretched out away from his body and sunlight fell upon his hand without it burning.

She waded into the water, crossbow raised until she reached a point where the water came up to her chest and she struck out, swimming as fast as she could towards the tunnel, very aware of how exposed she was currently. She reached the darkness quickly however and hoisted herself up and onto the concrete platform without hesitation.

The first thing she did was to whip the crossbow up in front of her and hold steady for a second staring into the darkness, straining her eyes for any danger that might be lurking there for her. After a couple of seconds where nothing moved, she reached out one hand, not moving the rest of her body and keeping her eyes on the darkness and crossbow up, reaching for the man's neck and feeling for a pulse. It fluttered faintly under her fingers but it was there none the less. He was alive. Barely.

Lowering the crossbow finally, she set it down beside her feet and moved to the man's side. Audrey held back a gasp as she took in his features. Clearly he'd been involved in the crash, the glass fragments embedded in his skin and scattered in his sandy hair proved that, but it was the other injuries that were shocking. His face was cut, probably from the crash as well, but there were burns across most of his face as well as his neck. She looked closer and saw that his hands too were burnt. His clothes however looked relatively untouched by whatever flames had caused the injuries to his skin.

She didn't have long to dwell on this mystery though, knowing that she had to get him away from here as quickly as possible lest the crash begin to draw in attention from any vampires in the area. She shook his limp body, trying to wake him, but he was out cold and apparently not coming round any time soon.

Cursing under her breath, Audrey tossed the strap of the crossbow over her shoulder so it was out of the way and gripped the man under his arms, dragging him with her to the edge of the platform. Luckily for her, he wasn't particularly big, not much taller than herself in fact and she had grown stronger during the years of struggle. She got him to the edge quickly and then with some difficulty, lowered the two of them into the water.

On her back with his back to her chest and holding him up she began to strike out for the bank, struggling through the river as she fought to keep both their heads above water. After what felt like an eternity, the water level began to lower and eventually she was on her feet and dragging him up the bank. She halted halfway, breathing heavily and lowered him down whilst she crept up to the edge with her crossbow in hand once more. She kept behind the car and scanned the horizon for any sign of movement. After a few moments, she decided it was clear and slid back down the bank to haul the unconscious man the rest of the way up.

Now came the real test she thought. It was an hour's walk on her own back to the safety of the house and dragging the man lying at her feet would not be possible all the way.

Praying for some good luck from a God she'd long since given up believing in, Audrey approached the driver's side door of the car and opened it up. She slid in halfway and turned the key that was still in the ignition. The car stuttered in to life, engine coughing for a few seconds before it gave out.

"Come on," she muttered, trying again. The same process repeated itself and Audrey rolled her eyes skyward in frustration, slapping her hand on the dashboard.

"Come on!" she shouted turning the key once more. The car engine started, stuttered . . .

"Yes!"

It miraculously kept running, a low powerful rumble coming from under the crumpled hood.

A smile on her face, Audrey slid out of the car and opened up the back doors. To her surprise there were no ashes from the vampire that she assumed must have been in the car, but she chose not to wonder about that as she instead reached down to the unconscious man and hauled him up and into the car with great difficulty. Eventually though she got him laid out across the back seats and she shut the door before jumping back in the front and behind the wheel.

The drive shouldn't take more than five minutes she thought as carefully she reversed the car and listened to the crunching of metal and wood being pulled apart. However, that was long enough for the state of the car to draw attention to herself and her unconscious passenger and she had to hope there weren't more modified vehicles out on the surrounding roads. Even before the plague though this had been an unusually quiet area and meeting traffic had been rare. She just needed their luck to hold out a little longer.

She swung the car around and set off at a steady pace of fifty miles an hour towards home. The speedometer said the car was capable of much more, but she didn't want to risk pushing the wreck too far after what it had just been through and have it break down on her miles out from safety. Instead she cruised along, trying to maintain a middle ground between getting them back faster and not jolting her injured passenger around more than absolutely necessary.

The dead grassland flashed by quickly but not quick enough for Audrey's liking as she kept both hands firmly on the wheel, gripping tight as the nervous tension that she hadn't noticed during the physical exertion of getting the man to the car began to flood her body. She told herself to stay calm though and focused on keeping her eyes on the road ahead. After a few minutes she reached a track that ran away from the main road and appeared to lead to more dead fields and then eventually a small forest. It was down this that she sped now, urging the car forwards and praying that she wouldn't be spotted and followed. It wasn't all that safe to drive up to the house during daylight, it risked making their location known, but she didn't feel she had any other choice. The man in the back was badly injured and needed medical help immediately. And they needed every single human they could find.

As she entered the tree line, Audrey glanced in the rear view mirror. He was still out cold, his body jolting as the track grew rougher and she wondered if this didn't wake up him what would.

Eventually though, much to her relief, the house loomed up ahead of her as she emerged from the main body of the trees. She almost laughed out loud with delight to see the large frame of Jarvis emerging from the building with a look of wary confusion on his face at the sight of the approaching car.

They were safe.


	2. Chapter 2

His skin tingled all over and he felt warm. But the burning was gone at least. There was something soft beneath his back and his wet clothes had been removed and this made him jolt upright immediately in fear remembering where it was he'd passed out. Something wasn't right.

"Steady, lie back," a voice said from somewhere around him. He was too confused to figure out where.

A hand pressed firmly against his chest, easing him back down and he relented under its pressure. He tried to open his mouth to speak but his skin felt strange and he found that as the pain gradually began to seep back into his mind he couldn't seem to form the words.

Whoever it was that was with him seemed to sense his fear however and began to talk in a low, soothing voice.

"You're safe now. You were in a car crash but we found you. You've got some injuries, but nothing we can't take care of."

The man didn't move or attempt to reply as gradually the words sank in and he began to take stock of his aching body. His lower limbs felt ok he thought. His upper body ached and there was a fire in his chest but it was his face that was causing him the most concern. He realised with a jolt that he couldn't see.

He tried to raise a hand to his face despite the pain in his arms and felt around desperately. The hand that had been at his chest caught his own and stilled its frantic movements. Gradually, his mind registered what his fingertips were feeling. There were bandages covering almost all of his face, including his eyes, he realised.

"Why can't I see?"

His voice sounded harsh to his own ears as it croaked out through his sore throat. The note of panic in it was clear however.

"Your eyes were damaged by whatever it was that caused the burning. We've covered them to let them heal. Exposing them to light too soon might cause you to lose your sight permanently. It's just a precaution."

The voice was that of a woman he thought as he traced his hand down the bandages and realised they enveloped his neck as well. He couldn't feel the old scar but somehow he knew that it hadn't been removed with the renewed beating of his heart. Had they seen it though?

"Where am I?"

The hand that had been holding his drew back and he could hear movement to his right. A chair scrapping back across stone. And now he concentrated, other sounds too. A low murmur of voices from another room perhaps.

"At my home," the female voice replied. "You're with members of the human resistance. You're safe."

The man wasn't sure whether that was true. When they found out what he was - what he used to be, he reminded himself - surely they would turn on him, drive a stake through his heart.

"What's your name?" the woman asked.

Her voice was coming from close beside him once more and he guessed she must be sat beside the bed in which he thought he'd been placed.

"Lionel. Lionel Cormac," he replied. "Elvis works for most folks though."

He coughed suddenly as the words died in his painful throat. There was the sound of movement beside him and an arm was slipped behind his shoulders, lifting his body slightly before he felt a cup being placed to his lips. He hesitated before drinking however.

"It's water," the woman reassured and he parted his lips allowing the liquid to soothe the burning.

"Thanks," he managed as the cup was removed and he was lowered back, his head supported by a soft pillow.

"Elvis, huh?" the woman said eventually. He nodded.

"Yeah, but I won't try singing for you just yet."

That earned him a quiet laugh.

"I'm Audrey."

Elvis raised a hand stiffly from the bed and Audrey reached out to shake it in greeting.

"Nice to meet you, Audrey," he said before releasing her hand. "Now, you got any painkillers in the place?"

* * *

Audrey sat around the wide wooden table running a finger against the knots and whirls that made up its surface. The tree from which the table had been made must have been old, maybe more than a thousand years old. Her parents had told her stories as a child about all the things the tree might have seen, all the centuries it had passed through watching the world change. She'd not had much of an imaginative mind as a child though, always one leaning towards facts and careful analysis. Now though, she'd seen enough things to wonder if perhaps the stories her parents had told weren't so fantastical after all.

"He said much yet?"

Audrey's reverie was broken by the rough voice of Colin who slumped down in a chair across from her and fixed her with an argumentative stare. Colin wasn't happy about her driving up to the house in broad daylight, unconscious human in tow or not.

"Not a lot, only his name," she replied.

Colin made an irritable noise in the back of his throat and crossed his arms across his chest. His chequered shirt was damp in places with sweat from the work he'd been doing all afternoon. Strong winds last night had ripped down the boards over the windows on the western side of the house and he and another man had been working to fix them back up and secure the house against attack.

"And?"

"And his name is Elvis."

"Elvis?" Colin asked with a derisive snort.

"That's what he says."

Colin glanced over at the open archway behind which the beds for the makeshift medical room were placed. Audrey had left Elvis sleeping half an hour ago after giving him some more painkillers and didn't intend to bother him any further until he'd rested up some more.

"He didn't mention how he got all the way out here then?"

Audrey shook her head. It wasn't worth engaging in too much conversation with Colin when he was in one of these moods. He'd joined the group five years back and despite being a useful member of the team and a pragmatic man, he was far too cynical for Audrey's liking. Things were dark enough without him bringing morale down further she reasoned.

Audrey had been de-facto leader of the resistance members since the beginning. Whether it was purely because her house had become the base for operations or whether it was her leadership skills and confidence it didn't much matter. She'd been leading the group for nine years, helping them keep hidden and to keep increasing their numbers. Three years ago things had been looking up with the group leading increasingly more daring raids against the vampires to free humans and gain further intelligence as where others might be hiding out. But as the human population had gradually dwindled and the vampires had grown more aggressive, things had become much harder for the resistance. Lately there had been mutterings amongst the group, coming from the man sat across from her she suspected, that she wasn't doing enough to help keep them safe. That someone new should be in charge. Today's events hadn't helped much.

The sound of heavy footsteps approaching table got Audrey's attention and she turned in her chair to see Jarvis approaching. The tall African-American shot her a smile before dropping down heavily in a seat beside her and swiping the cap from his head.

"Goddamn is it hot out today!"

"You don't have to tell me," Colin muttered and Audrey and Jarvis shared a look of exasperation at their colleague before he glared at them.

"So, we know anything about this guy yet?" Jarvis asked.

"Says his name is Elvis," Colin said before Audrey could get a comment in.

"That supposed to be a joke?"

"His given name's Lionel Cormac," Audrey said.

"Ok, we got any other information on Lionel, Elvis, Cormac?" Jarvis questioned.

"Not just yet. I gave him a painkiller and he's gone back to sleep. He's not going anywhere, we can ask him when he wakes up."

Jarvis nodded agreement but Colin clearly wasn't satisfied. He did at least have the grace to glance around him to check no one else was listening before he launched into his misgivings. The other resistance members, numbering around the thirty mark currently, were all occupied however.

"Look, he turns up alone, out in the middle of nowhere and there just happens to be a vamp vehicle that he's clearly been thrown through close by? This doesn't seem right to me. I mean, where's the vamp? They must have been in the car together."

"I didn't see any sign of a dead vampire anywhere in the area and it wouldn't have gotten far from the car, not in the middle of the day," Audrey said.

"So what, it just disappeared?" Colin asked sceptically, his voice a low hiss as he attempted not to attract too much attention from the others.

"Maybe he stole the car from a vampire?" Jarvis suggested.

"I don't know," Audrey replied, "the car was all set up for daytime driving when it crashed. A human wouldn't bother with that."

"Chances are then that he's one of the human group we've been hearing about and got unlucky. Vamp catches him out in the open, there's a fight, he winds up in the river," Jarvis reasoned.

"Or," Colin cut in, leaning closer, "he's working with the vamps."

"Oh come on!" Audrey laughed. "What's in it for any human to do that?"

"Promise of immortality instead of being farmed. He rounds up other humans, the vamp turns him instead of draining him."

Audrey and Jarvis stared at Colin in disbelief. He stared straight back resolutely.

Jarvis shook his head and nodded over in Elvis's direction.

"How's he wind up getting fried like that then?"

Colin shrugged and rose from the table.

"I don't much care. I just want him watched."

With that he strode off, heading for the wrought iron spiral staircase that lead to the ground floor.

Jarvis watched him go with a weary smile on his face and a shake of his head.

"What's eating him today?"

"Too much hard work," Audrey murmured in reply and Jarvis laughed.

"I'll talk to him when he wakes up," Audrey reassured to settle any doubts that might be in Jarvis' mind. He was a good ally and an even better friend and she didn't want to risk losing him as either.

"Sure. You want anyone else there when you do it?"

Audrey thought for a moment then shook her head.

"He's nervous enough as it is. Let me talk to him alone first. If I don't think I'm getting the answers we want, then I'll call you in."

Jarvis seemed to agree with this and rose from the table with a smile, his cap held between his large, reliable hands.

"Well, I've got more work to do. Wouldn't want Colin feeling hard done by now would we?"

Audrey shared in his laughed as he gave her a wink and took the same route to the stairs that Colin had earlier.


	3. Chapter 3

Elvis wasn't sure how long he'd been awake, it was difficult to tell with the bandages over his eyes, but he knew one thing. He needed another painkiller. Now that the initial elation of feeling his heart beat in his chest had worn off, the pain from his burns was beginning to get to him. He wondered how bad they looked under all the bandaging covering his face, neck, and he realised upon this second time of waking, his forearms.

He turned his head one way, then another, wondering if there was anyone in the room watching him who might come over. He couldn't figure out where he was, but the room must be big. Sounds echoed around making it difficult to place their origin or be sure just how many people there were somewhere around him. There were quite a few though he thought. Twenty maybe. He'd picked out a number of different voices including that of the woman, Audrey, who'd been sat beside him earlier on. He wondered whether she had been the one who'd brought him here.

Elvis was just considering attempting to call out for someone when he heard footsteps, clearly approaching, and a chair being drawn back.

"You didn't sleep long."

It was her again and Elvis felt himself relax a little.

"Could do with another painkiller, Doc," he said. His throat didn't feel quite so raw as earlier, but it was still a strain to speak.

"I'm no doctor," Audrey said.

"Should I be worried about that?" Elvis asked as he felt her take his arm.

"Hold still," she muttered and he stiffened as a needle pricked the skin. After a few moments it was withdrawn and she laid his arm down against the sheets.

"Give it a couple of minutes and you should start to feel better."

Elvis flexed his arm experimentally as he felt the pain gradually grow duller and he relaxed a little further. At least no one had tried to kill him yet, he reasoned.

"So, you're not a Doctor," he stated eventually. "What were you then? Before all this I mean."

"I was training to be a lawyer," she replied.

Elvis laughed and turned his head towards where he had correctly guessed she was sitting.

"A bloodsucker before the bloodsuckers."

Audrey smiled and shook her head. Jarvis had made a similar joke when they'd first met.

"Something like that I guess. How about you?" she asked, figuring the questioning had to start somewhere and wanting to set him at ease as much as possible.

"Mechanic," he replied. "I worked on cars, had my own garage. Was doing pretty good business too."

"We've not had a mechanic here in a while. There's a few people who might be very happy you've turned up."

Elvis didn't bother to ask why there hadn't been a mechanic in the group recently. He'd heard enough about these underground human resistance groups in the papers to know how often the members were captured and taken to the farms.

"Do you remember what happened, Elvis?" Audrey began cautiously. "Before I found you?"

So he'd guessed right. She was the one that had picked him up from the river. Well, he thought, he had to be grateful for that at least. But how much could he say?

He raised a hand self consciously to his neck, rubbing at the spot under the bandages where the bite mark was. All it would take was for them to remove the bandages and take a closer look under all the burns and they'd know the truth. There didn't seem much point in lying.

Audrey watched his movements, the placement of his hand, and wondered if he were reliving some narrow escape from being bitten by the vampire that seemed to have driven him out to the river, or discovered him there.

"I was out driving. I took my eyes off the road for too long," he said, remembering everything that had led up the crash. The feeling of weakness running through his body, the desperation for blood, but he would not allow himself another drop he'd decided a week earlier.

"Then I crashed."

Audrey frowned down at the man in the bed. Not much of his face was visible under the bandages and she couldn't tell from the tone of his voice if he was inventing this on the spot.

"Where did you find the car?"

"It's mine, was, mine," he corrected. Then he raised a hand from the bed and held it out to her.

"Give me your hand," he said and sensed her hesitation. But then he felt her hand rest in his own and he drew it to his neck, pressing her fingers to a spot on the left just under his jaw line.

"Feel that?"

"Sure, it's your pulse," Audrey replied, confused as to where this was going.

"Shouldn't be there," Elvis said, and then more quietly, "Hasn't been for near nine years now."

Audrey drew her hand back sharply and stared down at the man in the bed in disbelief. This couldn't be true.

"You're a vampire?"

"Was a vampire," Elvis stated firmly. His throat was feeling rough now from all the talking but he didn't intend to stop until she believed him.

"The crash -"

"No, the sun. The crash threw me out of the car, straight through the windshield and I started burning up!"

His voice had become more animated now as the elation of what had happened finally began to register. It was a miracle.

"I was on fire, all of me and then I hit the water. Saved my life," he finished.

Audrey sat in silence simply staring at him as he lay unmoving, his head turned towards her but his eyes unseeing. Cautiously, she raised a hand again and laid it back against his neck. He didn't flinch as she felt his pulse beat under her fingers. He was very definitely alive.

"You couldn't have been bitten."

"Sure was."

Elvis reached up and moved her hand to another spot on his neck. She wouldn't be able to feel the scar through the bandages, but if she looked it would be there.

"Scar's right there, Audrey. Eight years and nine months ago I was bitten, by my best friend. Asked him to do it before they could round me up and send me off to the farms. I was a vampire. And as of midday today, I'm human again."

It was the pure joy in his voice that swung it for Audrey, even without seeing the scar. She didn't think anyone could fake that.

"I believe you," she said quietly.

Audrey sat silently staring down at Elvis still barely able to come to terms with what he'd told her. There was a cure. A way to end the vampire disease. It had been too much to hope for after ten years of hiding and fighting and her mind seemed unable to take it all in.

Elvis still held her hand, maintaining some contact with the woman sat beside him. He couldn't tell what her reaction was to his words and could feel his frustration growing at his lack of sight. But she hadn't moved away from him, keeping her fingers pressed against his neck as she considered what this meant for them all.

"So, should I be waiting for a stake any second now?" Elvis asked eventually.

Audrey laughed quietly at his attempt to diffuse some of the tension that had filled the air around them and drew her hand back.

"No, you're human. You're with us now," she stated firmly. "But," she added, and Elvis heard her rise from the chair beside his bed, "the others need to hear this."

"Guess I'll just sit tight then," Elvis muttered to himself as he felt more than heard her leave his side.

He didn't have to wait long though before he heard her returning, in the company of two others, their heavier footsteps suggesting that they might be male.

"Elvis, this is Colin," Audrey stated and Elvis heard a man give a grunt in response, "and Jarvis."

Elvis felt a large hand grip his own and he shook it in response.

"Good to meet you Elvis," a deep voice rumbled with genuine warmth.

"You too," Elvis replied thinking it might not be quite true given he had yet to actually see any of the people around him. It was very disorientating to be the centre of attention to people you could not read.

"Audrey says you've got quite the story to tell us," Jarvis said.

"I certainly do."

As Elvis repeated to Colin and Jarvis what he'd said to Audrey he could feel their scrutiny upon him. By the time he'd finished it was becoming suffocating. The air around him was thick with mistrust.

The two men beside Audrey were silent for some time as they digested what they'd heard, struggling to believe the words much as they might want to. It just seemed so impossible.

"Thank you, Elvis," Audrey said eventually as her companions continued to stare at the man before them in the bed.

Elvis gave a small nod in reply but said nothing as he waited for the verdict from his two judges. Somehow he knew Audrey had some sway over them, but he still felt the beginnings of a creeping fear edging into his gut. If these two men did not believe him, he was dead.

"I get the feeling you two gentleman are struggling with my story."

Elvis' voice held firm but Audrey could hear the note of tension there.

"Audrey, I told you about the scar," he said.

"The bandages shouldn't be removed just yet," Audrey replied with uncertainty. It might well be the only way Jarvis and Colin were going to believe it though. And, she did want the proof for herself, to remove any niggling doubt that might have been hiding at the back of her mind.

"Can't make these burns much worse," Elvis reasoned.

Audrey looked over at Jarvis who gave a shrug. It was worth a look if it would prove Elvis' story either way.

"Alright," Audrey said with some apprehension still.

She took the seat beside Elvis's bed and reached out to him. Cautiously she began to unwind the bandages wrapped around his neck. Elvis winced in pain immediately and she slowed her movements, attempting to be as gentle as possible. He'd been through enough already.

"Sorry," she said quietly as she continued, the bandages gradually falling away to reveal the burns to his neck.

Eventually, when the right of his neck was mostly uncovered, Audrey stilled her hands and Elvis reached up, tapping a spot that was close to his collarbone. The skin there was red and painful looking but the damage did not seem so bad. Two small marks were the only thing that remained of the bite, but they were clear and Audrey had seen the same thing on enough vampires before to know they were genuine.

Jarvis and Colin were stood close at her back and staring down. She knew that they'd seen the scar as clearly as herself.

"We see it," Audrey said and Elvis gave a small, humourless smile. He drew his hand back and laid it to rest on the bed sheets as Audrey carefully rewound the bandages around his neck.

"Well I didn't think I'd ever see this," Jarvis marvelled. "But it really is good to meet you man."

He laughed and shook his head as Audrey finished up and gave Elvis' shoulder a reassuring squeeze before she rose from her seat.

"A word, please," Colin said as she turned. His expression was blank and unreadable but Audrey thought she knew where this was headed.

"Get some rest," she said to Elvis who would have rolled his eyes at her if they were uncovered. What else was he going to do?

The three of them moved away from the medical room and towards another archway behind which a number of barrels were stacked, the remains of Audrey's parents last season of wine.

"Ok, spit it out," Jarvis said, turning to Colin.

Colin glanced back over his shoulder once to where Elvis was lying before replying.

"Something still doesn't seem right to me. I mean, it's not like he asked to be a human, what if he's just waiting for an opportunity to get back to them, to become one of them again?"

"They wouldn't turn him, not with the way things are at the moment. They need all the human blood they can get and he knows that," Jarvis replied with certainty.

"He already explained that he'd been abstaining from human blood before this. He didn't want to be a vampire any longer," Audrey added.

"And you really believe that? That could just be a cover, we've got no proof of it. We can't trust him," Colin finished in a dark tone.

Audrey shook her head. In her own mind she was certain that Elvis was telling the truth.

"We have to trust him. We don't have any other choice."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4.**

The light was hazy at this time of morning and a thin film of cloud hung low over the hills in the distance. It was like looking at the world through a filter and Audrey was quite content with that. Staring the world right in the face these days wasn't much fun. She shook her head to clear the image of yellow eyes and bared fangs that sprang up from the back of her mind.

She was sat in a shady spot beneath a tree, watching as the day broke and the sun spilled out over the landscape. It was the best time of day, she thought. When all the work that needed to be done was clear in your mind but hadn't yet started and when her body was fresh from sleep rather than worn and tired and aching for rest.

There were a few other people up and awake outside already. Two young men were hacking away at logs with their axes to create firewood. A young woman was checking the oil on their vehicles whilst another man sat on the ground close by eating his breakfast.

Inside would be busier, she knew and for the time being she needed quiet in order to think through everything that had happened the previous day.

She and Jarvis had notified the rest of the group late last night of Elvis and his miraculous cure. The general response had been one of surprise, followed by hope that this could eventually mean the end of their struggle. Audrey had been quick to play things down a little. They had no idea exactly how Elvis had been changed, or whether the process could be replicated. There was no good in them getting ahead of themselves and then become despondent when a cure didn't appear quick enough. Even so, there had been a celebratory atmosphere in house last night that she was pleased to note after so many weeks of depression.

Audrey looked up as the front door opened and another young woman stepped out. Through the briefly open doorway she could see that the small community of humans was indeed predominantly up and awake, busy with the day's tasks.

With a small sigh and rueful smile, Audrey got to her feet and wandered slowly back towards the house. She had things to do and couldn't afford to sit around outside for too long.

The house was a hive of activity, just as she'd expected. Eight or so people including a few children were sat around the table downstairs eating breakfast together. Others were in a room towards the back where they grew various vegetables and other useful plants. Jarvis was stood with two men and a woman around their radio equipment, listening in over military and police channels for any reports on human sightings.

Audrey wandered amongst all this, pleased to see the group working so well together as ever. The resilience of these people never ceased to amaze her.

As she reached the base of the staircase, she received a curt nod from Colin who was crossing the floor, axe in hand, clearly off to join the two men outside. Audrey returned his nod but neither spoke. Colin had sat silently during the meeting last night where the others were told what was going on. Audrey was sure he wouldn't be so gracious today and that by the end of the day there might be a few mutterings from those who seemed most open to Colin's usual miserable proclamations.

Audrey moved towards the large table and was greeted briefly by those sat around it. A man in his mid thirties with dark hair and an open smile passed her a plate piled up with toast.

"Would have saved you some bacon and eggs if I'd known you were coming down, chief," he said.

"No need, Pete. Got any porridge around for our new friend?"

Pete gave a look of mock disgusted and jerked a thumb over his shoulder.

"Sure, should be a box of that crap by the microwave."

A few minutes later and Audrey stepped through under the archway that led to the medical room. There were six beds cramped in there, but only one was currently occupied.

"That the footsteps of my rescuer I hear?"

Audrey laughed and set the tray down beside Elvis' bed. He was sat up and still smiling as she took the wooden seat.

"I suppose so. And I come bearing breakfast."

Elvis' smile grew at that.

"Ahhh, my own personal guardian angel. Please tell me there's some bacon close by."

"Sorry to disappoint, but it's porridge for the time being. That throat of yours needs soft foods."

Elvis groaned in distaste but didn't argue.

Audrey placed the tray across his lap and gingerly, Elvis reached out for the spoon. His hands groped around for awhile before he found it, but despite the bandages, he was able to feed himself, much to his own relief.

"Not bad for slop I suppose," he said after swallowing the first mouthful.

"It only gets better from here, I promise."

Elvis smiled and carried on eating as Audrey watched. She was surprised to see how well he seemed having only had a day's rest. But then, she reasoned, he'd been a vampire when he'd burst through the windscreen and burned up and that meant his injuries hadn't been as bad as they would have been on a human. But he was a human now and he still seemed to be recovering quickly. Not unnaturally so, but still, it was surprising.

"Senator Turner is coming in to talk to you this afternoon," Audrey said.

The spoonful of porridge that Elvis had been about to eat halted halfway to his mouth and Audrey felt his gaze upon her behind the bandages over his eyes.

"As in the vampire, Senator Turner?"

"He's been working with us for a few months now, trying to drop us information about human sightings. And fighting the cause of the humans in public too," Audrey explained.

"Yeah, yeah I've heard him. Reminds me of the animal rights activists before all of this mess," Elvis replied.

The comparison seemed apt to Audrey. Humans really were like that now. An endangered species being hunted into extinction.

"There's not much more I can tell him that I haven't already told you," Elvis continued, returning to his breakfast and eating it quickly despite the taste.

"I think he just needs to see you for himself."

Elvis shrugged.

"Guess I wouldn't be much likely to believe it myself. What was the verdict amongst the rest of the group then? I'm assuming from the lack of villagers with pitchforks and torches that I'm sticking around?"

"There all pretty excited about you actually. You're the hero of the day as far as they're concerned," Audrey replied drawing a short laugh from the bandaged man in the bed.

"No, I just got fried. Got no idea how to fix up the rest of the bloodsuckers. Wish I could say I did but . . ." he trailed off despondently, then seemed to mentally shake himself out of the minor depression.

"Anyhow, I believe I owe you my thanks. If anyone's the hero round here at the moment, it's you. I'd be in the farms already if it weren't for your timely rescue. Must have been hard work dragging my old body back all that way."

There was genuine gratitude in Elvis's voice and Audrey gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze in place of the smile that he couldn't currently see.

"It wasn't so bad. Your car did most of the hard work."

What she could see of Elvis's face registered surprise.

"My car was working?"

"Just about. It's in the garage with the rest of our vehicles at the moment. Though I think it's pretty much a write off."

Elvis shook his head vehemently.

"If it drove, it's fixable. Soon as I get my sight back I'll put the old girl to rights. I've had that car for nearly fifteen years. I'm not letting a minor run in with a fence post knock her out for good."

The note of sheer determination in Elvis's voice made Audrey laugh. Elvis seemed to misinterpret her laughter and raised his hands defensively.

"Hey, you haven't seen Elvis get to work yet. I've fixed up worse wrecks than her in my time," he assured her.

"I don't doubt it," Audrey replied. "But not for a few days yet at least. You've got a worse wreck that needs time to fix itself first."

Elvis grinned and finished off his breakfast with a satisfied sigh.

"All this body needs is food and good company and it'll be running again just fine."

He sounded just as certain about this as he did when talking about his car and Audrey found herself believing every word he said. If there was one thing that Elvis seemed to radiate despite his battered state, it was reliability. She was certain he was going to be an asset to the group in more ways than one.

"Good to know," Audrey replied as she removed the tray from his lap and set it on a low table further back from the bed. "However, you also need those burns seeing too, the bandages need changing."

"Oh joy," Elvis murmured and Audrey suppressed her laughter.

She stepped away from his bedside briefly to fill a bowl with water from a stone sink in the corner of the room and gather up a roll of fresh bandages and a cloth before returning to her seat.

"Do I get the power of sight back today?" Elvis asked in an attempt to distract himself from the discomfort as Audrey began to unwind the bandages. He knew she was being as gentle as she could but it still stung as the material was eased away from his burnt skin.

"Not today, no. But it shouldn't be too long, you're healing up very quickly. I don't think the burns are as bad as they first looked."

She was focusing on her hands and being as careful as she could but Audrey noted the flicker of frustration that ran across his features as they were gradually uncovered.

"How's that feeling?" she asked as she removed the last of the bandages around his neck, her fingers brushing across the scar that he'd revealed to them the previous day. The only bandages left now where the ones covering his eyes.

"Not as bad as it could be I guess," Elvis replied with a shrug.

His face and neck were painful but he thought that was probably a good deal better than not being able to feel anything at all. It meant the burns couldn't be too bad. Though he trusted what Audrey was saying, he wasn't too sure if she was playing his injuries down simply to keep him at ease whilst he was in her care.

It was strange, this feeling of helplessness. For nine years he'd been a vampire, invincible, immune to disease, never aging. At first it had been liberating knowing that he had so many more years stretching out before him, but then it had begun to grow wearisome, and eventually a burden that he had become desperate to rid himself of. Despite being stuck in this bed, unable to see and at the mercy of people whom he had yet to see or get to know, Elvis still found himself feeling freer now than he had for a long time.

He relaxed back into the soft pillows at his back as Audrey gently applied a damp cloth to his face. The lukewarm water eased the pain of his burns and he almost found himself slipping back to sleep as he concentrated on the sensation of water against his damaged skin.

"That feels pretty good now," He murmured as he felt the cloth removed from his skin and heard it being placed back in the bowl close beside his head.

"I'm going to have to put some new bandages on now," Audrey said and Elvis nodded wishing he could see the face of the woman who was sat beside him carefully applying the bandages to his face, her fingers moving slowly and deliberately. The tone of her voice suggested she was close to his own age, or the age at which he'd been bitten anyway, but there was little else that he could discern from it.

He tried to imagine the look of concentration that would be upon her features as she finished changing his bandages, but found that only vague images of women he'd known in the past blurred into one another in his mind.

"What do you look like, Audrey?" he asked eventually after her hands had drawn away.

There was a short pause during which he could hear the sounds of the rest of the humans around him that he had yet to meet as they talked and worked on whatever it was that they did.

"I . . . well, you'll see in a few days."

She sounded a little hesitant, his question having thrown her off guard.

"I suppose so," Elvis replied, not pushing any further and wondering what exactly he'd expected her to say in response anyway. Audrey, from the little time that he'd spent with her already, seemed like a practical, straightforward person, a leader. She didn't sound like the kind of woman who spent too much time worrying over or considering her own appearance.

They both sat in silence for a few moments, the seconds stretching out longer for Elvis in his blindness as he struggled to pick up any sense of what she might be thinking. Then he heard the chair scrape back against the stone floor as she rose from his bedside.

"Do you need anything else?" she asked, her tone returning to the firm but upbeat one that she'd been speaking with prior to his question.

Elvis shook his head.

"Alright, well I have things I need to do. Just shout, literally, if you do need anything."

"No problem," Elvis replied.

"I'll be back when Senator Turner arrives," Audrey assured him before walking away.

Elvis sat listening to the sound of her retreating footsteps. He found he was able to follow them quite a way, even in amongst all the other sounds of the house that he had found himself in. It was going to be a long, dull day, he thought.

* * *

Elvis knew the moment Senator Turner arrived without having to listen out too hard.

There weren't any obvious changes to the background noise that he'd become steadily accustomed to throughout the day. However there was a shift in the atmosphere around him. He couldn't put his finger on how he knew it, but he was certain that the presence of the vampire wasn't entirely welcome.

A couple of minutes after noting the new arrival, Elvis heard footsteps approaching once more. The lighter ones he recognised as Audrey's and he fixed a smile on his face as they halted beside his bed.

"So, you're the walking miracle?" a deep voice said with some humour.

Elvis instantly found the image of the Senator flashing behind his eyes, remembered from countless TV interviews and debates and was pleased to finally be able to put a face to a voice in this place. It eased the sense of disorientation somewhat.

"Not sure I'd go that far myself, I'm not walking for a start," he replied.

Elvis heard the chair beside his bed being drawn back as Senator Turner took a seat, watching the bandaged man in the bed carefully. Elvis could feel the scrutiny of the other man - vampire, he reminded himself - and wondered how he was going to respond to the inevitable questions.

"Audrey filled me in on what happened to you," the Senator began and Elvis could tell he was considering his words carefully. "I understand you're unaware of how your transformation happened, other than that it was somehow linked to the sun, so I won't ask about the specifics. You need to understand that your recovery is very important to many people. Once you're back up on your feet we're going to need to get someone in to take a proper look at you."

"Be your guinea pig for a while," Elvis stated.

"Not like that. But we need to study what happened to you."

That was Audrey's voice. She was stood somewhere close beside the Senator and Elvis turned his head in the direction he thought she might be.

"No, not like that," the Senator clarified hastily. "But this is incredibly important. If there is any chance that there could be a cure, we have to look into it. The potential to turn people back - to recreate the world as it was - we can't let that slip. I understand you might be hesitant about this, but we have to find out what happened to you. And we have to be certain that the cure is permanent."

Elvis nodded agreement. He wasn't comfortable with the weight of expectation on his shoulders but there wasn't much to be done about it and he understood the desperation that the humans felt. This might be their only chance to save themselves.

"So, got anyone in mind to do this?" he asked to fill the silence that had descended.

There was a pause during which Elvis sensed that Audrey and the Senator were sharing some kind of communication.

"Not yet," Audrey said eventually.

"But we're looking, and in the meantime you need to remain here and keep yourself safe. There's a lot resting upon you Mr Cormac. Potentially the fate of the human race, " the Senator finished gravely.

"No pressure then," Elvis muttered.

**A/N: There are no other Elvis fics out there? I thought he was a really interesting character, I'm surprised. Actually I'm surprised at the general lack of Daybreakers writing, I loved the film! Any how, reviews would be much appreciated.**


	5. Chapter 5

The constant hiss was starting to lull Audrey back to sleep when it was broken suddenly by a voice that crackled and jumped. The frequency was poor and the signal kept breaking up as she and Jarvis sat listening.

For a few seconds, the voice seemed to relay coordinates and then went silent. The hiss returned and Audrey felt herself lean in closer to their equipment, willing the sounds to become clearer. Eventually another voice responded with an order to send vehicles over to the coordinates.

"Worth a look?" Jarvis wondered aloud as the line returned to static once more.

Audrey shrugged. There didn't seem anything definitive. Not anything worth risking the lives of her people over anyhow.

It had been like this for hours now. Intermittent reports of coordinates followed by radio silence and then a swift relay of orders. She wondered whether the vampires had figured out that they might be being listened to, or whether this was just a case of them not worrying too much about the job and failing to relay additional information. Either way, it wasn't helping her or any of the others who'd been taking shifts around the radio equipment to learn anything new about possible human sightings.

Sighing in frustration, Audrey rose from the wooden bench she had been sat upon and stretched her arms above her head. She felt stiff from the lack of movement and her mind wasn't focused on the task properly.

"We need to get back out on the hunt," she responded without much conviction.

Jarvis didn't say anything, waiting for Audrey to continue as he was sure she would.

"This just isn't enough to go on," she said eventually, seating herself beside him once more.

An air of defeat and frustration hung about them as they sat beside the crackling radio. It was all so different from the atmosphere the previous evening.

Senator Turner's visit, and his words about Elvis, about a cure and about hope had stirred up excitement even within herself. She, who always remained so level headed, had felt the growing of anticipation and true belief that things were about to change for the better. And that Elvis was at the heart of it. He had arrived in the midst of their group miraculously and they had been tasked with protecting him.

But right now, whilst he was still recovering and without someone who could properly examine him, there were other more pressing issues for the resistance, like bolstering their numbers.

"They've been too damn quiet for a while now," Jarvis said, his deep voice bringing Audrey back from her own thoughts and into the room.

"It doesn't have to mean anything," Audrey replied trying to be reassuring.

Jarvis cut her a wry grin and she shrugged. There was no need to pretend everything was fine with Jarvis, he'd been fighting just as long and just as hard.

"Something'll come up. We've just got to keep our ears to the ground."

"No problems there," Jarvis replied and added with a smile, "not like we got much else to do."

Across the room, stuck in the darkness of blindness and under the thin cotton sheets of what had gradually come to feel like a prison, Elvis was feeling equally as frustrated.

There was continual noise around him and at first it had been distracting enough to focus upon the sounds and try to figure out what exactly was going on. Gradually he'd been able to pick up bits of information and figure out individual people, their roles and a little of their personalities. But everyone was busy and Elvis was left to his own devices. Unable to move, he found himself beginning to dwell further upon his situation.

He was essentially a prisoner. He knew the importance of the potential cure he carried within his body meant that Audrey and the rest of the resistance wouldn't risk him leaving the shelter of the house. And he certainly wasn't any use to them in his current state.

The disorientation of the blindness had worn off, however the irritation at not being able to move was growing. Elvis felt well in himself. He was certain his body was recovering well from the crash and he was desperate to get out of the bed he was currently stuck in. But it didn't seem things were going to change any time soon.

He'd been alone for hours now. At one point the tedium was broken by a young man who announced himself to be called Travis bringing him food. Elvis had heard Travis often over the past day chatting with various other voices around him, including Audrey, and he had asked where she was. The response had been immediate, Audrey was busy and would be most of the day. Travis had dumped a tray of food on Elvis's lap and then disappeared. He returned twenty minutes later to tidy up but didn't say anything else

Other than this slightly strained exchange, Elvis had been left to his own thoughts. And they weren't doing anything to improve his mood.

It was clear that Senator Turner wasn't the only 'vampire' some of the members of the group had a problem with. Though most of the conversations he caught snatches of either revolved around day to day issues with the running of the resistance or speculation as to how soon a cure would be found - which did nothing to comfort his sense of unease - Elvis was increasingly aware of a smaller, dissenting group amongst the resistance. And it seemed he was the key problem.

"You awake under all that wrapping?"

Elvis jumped and swore under his breath. He'd been so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't heard the footsteps approaching.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," he heard Audrey say.

"I'm fine," Elvis replied quickly.

Audrey halted close to the side of the bed but didn't take the seat. His words had been harsh, full of frustration and anger and he wasn't facing her as he usually would, despite his lack of sight.

"Sorry . . . I didn't mean -"

"It's alright," Audrey said, cutting off his mumbled apology and taking the seat finally.

He looked her way now and she could read frustration in every visible line of his face.

"The more you rest up now, the quicker you'll recover," she said, hoping to ease his frustration.

"If I could see, I'd be running laps of this place already," he muttered.

Audrey smiled. He still sounded irritable but was making something of an effort to be friendly at least. It made a change from working on their vehicles alongside Colin and all of his complaints and Jarvis' silence over the past couple of hours on radio watch.

"Is this a social visit or am I due some more discomfort?" Elvis asked.

"A bit of both. Your bandages need changing again."

Audrey was certain he was rolling his eyes beneath the bandages and saw his lips form a grimace.

Elvis gave a heavy sigh of irritation but managed a smile all the same as he felt Audrey's hands gradually begin to removed the wrapping from his face.

"Busy day huh?" he said.

His skin prickled strangely as it was gradually exposed to the air. It was an odd sensation, but not painful as it had been the previous day and he felt a sense of relief having the stifling bandages off his face. They'd been adding to his growing sense of claustrophobia.

"No busier than usual," Audrey replied.

As she gradually peeled the bandages away she was surprised to see how much better the skin beneath was looking. His recovery seemed to be moving at twice the speed expected. It was a little disconcerting and she wondered if there might be other things about Elvis that would remain different despite his miracle cure.

"Just avoiding having to play nurse to the helpless, bedridden ex vampire?"

"Something like that," Audrey murmured.

She wasn't paying attention to his words, instead marvelling at his recovery. The bandages were coming away easily under her hands and unlike last time, there were no grimaces from Elvis as she worked.

Elvis could tell she wasn't listening to him. Her words sounded distracted and distant, as if his questions were just background noise.

The bandages had been removed now and he felt lukewarm water applied to his face by her soothing hands. As he felt the water trickling down his cheeks, Elvis found his mind wandering back to yesterday's questions and her evasive answers.

"I think you're a red head."

Audrey's hands stilled a moment and once again he wondered if he was pushing too far. But then they resumed their careful movements against his skin.

"Are you?"

Audrey laughed quietly but did not answer. It seemed Elvis was not to be dissuaded by her silence however.

"Ok, brown?"

Further silence and the cloth was removed. He could hear water being squeezed out into the bowl somewhere to his right.

"Blonde?"

Audrey reapplied the cloth to his forehead, brushing his hair out of the way so she could clean the burns there.

"Ok, you're secretly totally grey, but you dye it blonde? I won't tell anyone, hell who's going to believe the blind man?"

"You'll just have to wait."

Elvis reached up as her hands moved to his left cheek and stilled them there.

"Just, give me a clue?"

Audrey looked down at him as his hand held hers. He was still smiling but she could see the tension in his face. She knew it must be disorientating for him to have such an important sense ripped away so suddenly, leaving him totally in the dark. And besides, she had to admit she was enjoying his attention, even if it was simply because he was bored and frustrated.

"Alright. I'm most definitely not grey haired. That's all you're getting."

Elvis's smile cracked into a wide grin and Audrey continued to bathe his burns once more.

"Ok, it's not much to go on, but it's a start."

Elvis looked pensive for a few seconds, his lips pouting in thought as he considered his next question. Audrey found herself stifling laughter as she watched him puzzling out the information he had.

"So, not grey haired. Around about, oh, thirty I'd guess. From your footsteps and the fact that you got me across that river I'd say you're athletic. And pretty, definitely pretty."

Audrey did laugh at that.

"If you don't stop guessing soon you're going to be disappointed when you do finally get your sight back."

"Somehow I doubt that."

Audrey didn't argue with him. It was good see Elvis smiling and it certainly made her job easier if he was in a good mood. It didn't seem fair to leave him alone in his bed for so long each day, but the resistance was busy, either searching for fellow humans, making sure they all had enough supplies or keeping watch on the land surrounding the house. There simply wasn't enough time for someone to sit with Elvis and keep him occupied, despite his importance to the group.

"I appreciate that I'm the invalid patient at your mercy here," Elvis began as Audrey started replacing his bandages. "But it would be good to stretch my legs. Spending days on end in bed alone isn't my idea of a good time."

"You were thrown through the windscreen of a car. Don't you think you'd be better off resting up a while longer?" Audrey asked.

"I was a vampire when that happened, now I'm human. Everything's relative, Audrey. I'm going crazy stuck here."

Audrey was sceptical that his recovery, as miraculous as it was, really was good enough for him to go wandering around the house. And then there was the obvious problem . . .

"How are you going to get around? Elvis, you're blind and in a place you've never seen before."

"Well, I was hoping my personal guardian angel would be up for playing guide to the blind as well as doctor and rescuer."

The hopeful tinge to his tone made her pause and seriously consider the suggestion. There wasn't really any reason to refuse. Although no doubt the sight of Elvis up and moving around the house would set Colin off on a new rant later on. Audrey grimaced at the thought.

"It wouldn't have to be for long. Just so I could stretch my legs out for a while. Maybe get some fresh air."

He was almost pleading now, desperate to get out of the bed he'd been stuck in. Audrey -despite her years of leadership and hard, even harsh, decisions - caved.

"Alright."

The smile grew to a grin on Elvis's face as Audrey rose to her feet and moved to the other side of the room where his clothes lay neatly folded on an empty barrel that had formerly contained the wine produced from her parent's vineyard that surrounded the property. The vines were mostly dead and withered now however.

She returned to Elvis' bedside and placed the clothes on his lap. Audrey watched as Elvis' hands traced over the clothes, feeling everything out and trying to figure out what way around everything was. She hesitated awkwardly before asking her next question.

"Do you need some help?"

He had hold of his white t-shirt and was running his fingers along the neck line trying to find the front of the shirt.

"Looks that way," Elvis replied with no small measure of frustration. He hoped he wouldn't have to get used to being blind.

Audrey flipped the t-shirt so it was the right way around and then handed it to him so he could at least dress himself. She had a brief moment where she realised that to some extent this was what her life would have been like if she'd had the opportunity to have children. This was what it would have felt like to be continually looking out for someone who was totally dependent upon her for everything. But then, the resistance as a group was almost like that anyway, always looking to her for the final answer, for leadership and strength.

Once Elvis had pulled the t-shirt on, Audrey handed him a worn and faded pair of jeans and turned away to allow him a little more privacy.

When he'd eventually pulled on a pair of socks and boots too with some difficulty, Elvis slowly began to stand. Noticing how unsteady he was on his feet after almost three days in bed and the crash, Audrey reached out an arm around his waist and helped him to steady himself on the spot.

Elvis stood still for a few moments, testing the strength in his legs and finding his balance. He kept one hand on Audrey's shoulder until he was certain his body would hold up to the walk. His legs ached and he felt stiff and unwieldy, but he hoped a little movement would sort him out.

He placed his arm around her shoulders carefully and let her take some of the weight off his legs.

"Ok, I think I'm ready."

"Alright, just take it steady and tell me if you're getting tired," Audrey replied, still a little sceptical about the whole idea. He was letting a lot of his weight rest on her and he looked uncomfortable already.

A part of Elvis felt like insisting that he could walk unaided, but he found the desire to maintain human contact far outweighing his pride. Audrey's arm around his waist was reassuring in many ways.

They moved slowly out of the makeshift medical room and through the archway into the main room of the house. Elvis' footsteps were short and a little unsteady but there was no hesitation to his movements. At first Audrey kept her eyes on him to make sure he wasn't struggling, but as he found his feet she took in the rest of the room.

Most of the resistance members were too occupied with their work to pay much attention to the movement of others in the room, but a few were looking curiously their way. Elvis was the talk of the group but few had actually seen him since he had been carried in unconscious a few days previously. Now, eyes were focused upon him as he continued to take shuffling steps, oblivious to the attention he was receiving.

"We're in the main room of the house," Audrey said as they moved past the windows of a store room. "The radio equipment is in here and we have our meals and meetings here. There's a staircase we need to go up to get outside."

"I think I can manage it," Elvis replied, a wry edge to his tone.

Audrey didn't voice her doubts but kept them moving through the room, past the large dining room table around which a number of the resistance members were seated going over supply reports. A few looked up as they passed, including Colin. If the scowl on his face was anything to go by, Audrey was in for a long, dull meeting later that evening.

Elvis had being doing well so far, but navigating the spiral staircase was a trek in itself. Somehow the two of them managed to shuffle slowly up it together, alternating between Audrey taking the lead and backing Elvis up as he moved gradually upwards. Eventually though they emerged into the main entrance way to the house.

The front door was propped open with a large log currently as a couple of resistance members moved back and forth from the house with firewood. The two young men glanced up in surprise as Elvis and Audrey approached. They stood aside but didn't say a word

"Steady, there're a couple of steps down here." Audrey said quietly as they approached the doorway.

Audrey felt Elvis' grip on her shoulder increase slightly as he struggled to find his footing. After the difficulty in getting up the stairs, she guessed he might have overestimated his own recovery, but doubted he'd say anything. She kept her grip around his middle firm and let him get his balance properly before leading him through the open double doors and stepping out into the late afternoon sunlight with him.

Elvis laughed quietly as he felt the sunlight warming him for the first time in years. He turned his face upwards to the sky, wishing desperately that he didn't have the stifling bandages covering his skin, but revelling in the sensation all the same.

Beside him, Audrey smiled and watched silently as Elvis soaked in the sunlight, a broad grin on his face. Eventually though she felt his discomfort at standing for so long as he shifted his body weight.

"I'd like to sit somewhere in the sun for a while," he murmured.

Audrey didn't say anything, moving forward slowly instead and leading Elvis across the ground towards a grassy bank that ran beside the dirt track heading away from the house.

His relief at being able to relax was clear as Audrey helped Elvis to lower himself to the grass. She sat beside him as he stretched his legs out in front of him, leaning back on his hands and keeping his face turned up to the sun.

"Do you want to be alone for awhile?" she asked eventually, aware that there was probably a lot going through his head currently.

Elvis shook his head vehemently though.

"No," he said with certainty. "I've spent plenty of time on my own lately."

Audrey didn't reply, sensing that Elvis would continue the conversation when he was ready. Instead she enjoyed the peace of the afternoon sunlight, a welcome haven from the stresses of the day already and those to come later on.

"Funny thing about being a vampire, having all that time and all that power, just knowing you've got eternity stretching out ahead of you, it sucks every bit of desire out of you. And I mean desire for anything, not just some pretty girl you meet. Desire for human contact, for food, for new experiences, for knowledge or anything else. All you're left with is the need for blood."

His sightless eyes were still turned up to the sky and Audrey wasn't entirely sure whether he was really trying to explain all of this to her or to himself.

"And now?" she found herself asking.

He tilted his head her way a little, a thoughtful expression playing about what little of his features were visible.

"It all comes flooding back, the need for everything else."

The more he fought to articulate everything that was running through his mind, everything that he'd been feeling, or rather not feeling, for the last few years, the more it all slipped away. It was like there had been a pause in his life. Like everything had been put on hold when his heart stopped.

"I was dead for years and now I'm alive again. That's the only way I can explain it."

Audrey watched him carefully and took in everything he said. There was a passion in Elvis's voice and a strength of will that she hadn't heard from anyone for years. The resistance was full of people who were tired, from years of running and hiding. She thought that in some ways, she could relate to Elvis' experiences as a vampire. In truth, she realised, her life had been similar for just as long. Except she had yet to experience a grand awakening.

"Thanks for helping me out here. I needed this," Elvis said suddenly, breaking the silence that had descended over them.

"I think I did to."

Audrey wasn't sure where the words had come from but knew immediatly that they were right as Elvis smiled in understanding.


End file.
